Posted on 07/28/2022 8:16:41 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Things politicians never talk about when they pander to Greenies.
A close friend farms over 10,000 acres of corn in the mid-west. The property is spread out over 3 counties. His operation is a “partnership farm” with John Deere. They use the larger farm operations as demonstration projects for promotion and development of new equipment. He recently received a phone call from his John Deere representative, and they want the farm to go to electric tractors and combines in 2023. He currently has 5 diesel combines that cost $900,000 each that are traded in every 3 years. Also, over 10 really BIG tractors.
John Deere wants him to go all electric and soon.
He said:
Ok, I have some questions. How do I charge these combines when they are 3 counties away from the shop in the middle of a cornfield, in the middle of nowhere? How do I run them 24 hours a day for 10 or 12 days straight when the harvest is ready, and the weather is coming in? How do I get a 50,000+ lb. combine that takes up the width of an entire road back to the shop 20 miles away when the battery goes dead?
There was dead silence on the other end of the phone.
He then asked,
When the corn is ready to harvest, it has to have the proper sugar and moisture content. If it is too wet, it has to be put in giant dryers that burn natural or propane gas, and lots of it. Harvest time is critical because if it degrades in sugar content or quality, it can drop the value of his crop by half a million dollars or more. It is analyzed at time of sale.
It is standard procedure to run these machines 10 to 12 days straight, 24 hours a day at peak harvest time. When they need fuel, a tanker truck delivers it, and the machines keep going.
John Deere’s only answer is “we’re working on it.”
They are being pushed by the lefty Democrats in the government to force these electric machines on the American farmer. These people are out of control.
They are messing with the production of food crops that feed people and livestock, all in the name of their “green dream.”
Look for the cost of your box of cornflakes to triple in the next 24 months.
©Royal A. Brown, III. All rights reserved.
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Personal use for work around one house is at least an order of magnitude lesser in terms of energy expenditure compared to a gigantic agricultural operation that runs multiple hours at a time on a consistent basis.
This is also notwithstanding the fact that the electric batteries in your tools will eventually lose their ability to hold a charge after several years or so due to the uncaring callousness of physics and chemical reactions (and that’s in ideal storage conditions).
Can you even imagine the cost of replacing these agricultural batteries OMG!! These people are INSANE!!
I won't care, breakfast cereals are and have been on my do not eat list for decades. I prefer bacon and eggs for breakfast.
No it is NOT a fashion industry. It IS an ongoing science project.
By the way SCIENCE is a fashion industry too. just look at covid and global warming and MORE>
Agreed. This is bunk. John Deere is a smart company. They may have some electric machines coming, but not like the writer insinuates.
It is true that John Deere, Caterpillar and even the auto makers are moving toward subscription based options and also no dealer inventory. If you want to buy a tractor then you need to order a tractor. They can rent you one in the mean time.
Battery powered chainsaws are great for personal yard use.
This is an electric drive train, not an electric combine. Essentially it is a hybrid.
Very similar to a train(the choo choo type). They use diesel to generate electricity and use that energy to drive the machine.
One misleading article and fifty Freepers go berserk. We live in such a reactionary world now. I myself am not immune either.
Just to clarify, John Deere is not going to have combines and tractors that run on batteries like Teslas. Instead, they are developing electric drive trains to be integrated with their equipment. This very well could be a great idea and well accepted by farmers. Possible the tranny’s become easier to work on and have way more torque.
Similar to the original concept of Tesla semis. Gas/diesel turbine over electric. I thought that was a good configuration.
These Commies are going to manage us into a Holodomor if we let them.
Got any estimate on the cost of doing that and how much it would add to food prices?
I just found this 6-minute video on how batteries - especially car batteries - are recycled. I assuming this also applies to the batteries for electric cars. The images in it are overwhelming...
Well, just spitballing here, you can get a used X9 series harvester for about a million bucks, but that’s the diesel version. So, let’s say the battery powered one is twice that.
So, assuming the battery version can run for 8 hours (optimistic), you’ve got 3x$2MM = $6MM increase in cost for the harvester.
The cost of the generator would depend heavily on the output required, but let’s say 24KVA would do the trick, so say 30K with a trailer. Add another 5K for a tank and that’s under 50K all in.
The diesel service would be the same as the current fuel bill, so let’s net that out of the equation. Looks like the biggest cost would be the backup harvesters, since there are no replacable “swap out” battery packs.
So in round numbers, it would be a +/- $6.5 to $7MM operating cost increase every couple of years per farmer. The suits at Deere probably figure the increased sales would be great, but in reality, it would put all of their customers out of business pretty quick, so maybe I should sell all of my Deere stock, now that I think of it.
The REAL benefit of all of this can be seen in Sri Lanka, where they banned nitrogen fertilizer, resulting in widespread crop failures. This strategy puts pressure on the opposite side of the agricultural equation. Banning fertilizer depresses yields, and this initiative from Deere would effectively prevent whatever crops are grown from being harvested. Sort of like nuking everything from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
Claus Schwab would be proud of himself.
Such a small price to pay for multinational corporate virtue-signaling. </sarcasm>
Love my Bosch battery powered drill/impact. Small, light, powerful...
But the battery powered garden tools for the ladies in my life kinda suck compared to the 2-cycle tools. And not sure I’d want an electric chain saw... one with the necessary torque might not have the give normally provided by combustion.
My point exactly.
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